World hell? check
by golden promise
Summary: What if Daryl and Carol knew each other online before the world went to hell? Well one things for sure. You're always more bold on the internet than in real life. Caryl! because I just love them. rated T for violence and language story title up for rename as I couldn't think of one right now
1. Prologue

**Hello, Golden Promise here bringing you my very first Walking Dead story! now this story comes form an idea I posted to tumblr today and I got into it so I decided to actually write it. It starts before Atlanta but it will converge with the original story line but with my own twists thrown in. Don't know how often it will be updated. I'm not confident on these characters as I usually write anime fanfiction like Fairy Tail and Soul Eater but I wanted to give it a try.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead. If I did, a certain couple would be together already. **

**Let the story begin!**

It had been a few days. Daryl stared at the computer screen, to a particular name in general on his chat. The name was shrouded in gray, stating the person was offline and Daryl felt a small muscle tick in his jaw. He got up from his chair and walked into his small kitchen. Looking around he frowned at the mess. Hadn't he just cleaned up the other day? Shaking his head at the mess he moved to his fridge, opened it and grabbed a can of soda of the top shelf before returning to his chair. His eyes were instantly drawn to that same name again and he felt taken aback as he noticed the name was now shrouded in green. As if by itself his hand grabbed the mouse and moved it to click on the name. He felt himself waver, wondering if he should bother her or if he should find something else to do. It was taken out of his hands when a chat window popped up and her name came on screen with a small message.

_**Having an interesting day?**_ It read. Daryl's hand moved to his chin as he thought about it. Nothing particularly interesting had happened in his day. Wen't to work, worked, came home and sat at his desk. He felt his fingers move over the keys as he responded.

_**Depends what you mean by interesting,**_he wrote and pressed enter. A few seconds later her response popped up.

_**Well, anything out of the ordinary? Or different?**_Were her words.

_**Nothing. The usual. You?**_He asked her.

_**The usual,**_was her only response. Daryl felt himself frown at that.

_**Everything okay?**_He asked. He was pretty sure he would know the answer. Few days of silence was a pretty big indicator. His eyes flew to the signal of her typing in the bottom corner. It went on and on before stopping. Nothing came up in the chat as the signal for typing began again.

_**Everything is as good as can be expected right now**__, _Came her response. Daryl felt another muscle tick in his jaw as his teeth clenched. It had to be that bastard again, if he lived closer he would have gone over there and straightened a few things out with the man himself. He had only known her a few months and was still surprised at the protectiveness that came over him anytime he thought of her abusive husband.

_**Sophia okay? **_He typed. He was a bit afraid for the girl, knowing first hand how hard that could be for a kid.

_**She's fine. Settled in for the night, **_came her response. A smiley face was tacked on the end which always seemed to make him grin. They had a funny habit with the emoticons and he grinned again as he sent one with it's tongue sticking out. This of course set off the smiley war as they continued back and forth with different emoticons. They talked for another hour of silly things before the conversation turned serious again.

_**Been more on the news about that sickness going around, **_she typed. Daryl felt himself frown.

_**More? Thought they had that stuff figured out already. **_He typed with a frown.

_**Apparently not. You should watch the news more often, then I wouldn't have to tell you all the time, **_she wrote with another smiley face.

_**No news is good news, **_he wrote back.

_**Not true. There is some good news out there, **_was her answer.

_**If you say so. **_Daryl leaned back in his chair and glanced at the clock noticing how late it had gotten. He heard a ping for a message and looked back to the screen.

_**Have to go for the night. Tomorrow? **_She wrote.

_**Tomorrow. **_He watched as her name icon went back to gray and got offline himself. He turned off the computer and got up to stretch. He was on his way to his bed when all the lights went out and he heard the first screams rise in the air.

XXxxxxxxXX

Carol let out a quiet sigh as she quickly moved the laptop and put it back in its place in the dresser drawer. She had heard the door open downstairs and so she quickly had to tell her friend goodnight. She hoped she could get on again tomorrow, depending on if Ed went out again or not. Carol moved back to the bed and got under the covers as quick as her aching bones would allow. She couldn't help the intake of pained breath as she lay down flat on the mattress. Her upper back still hurt from earlier in the day before Ed had stormed out of the house in a rage. It wasn't to bad but still hurt to have the pressure of her whole body put on it.

listening for the creaking of the door to signify if Ed was coming into the bedroom, Carol calmed her breathing so that it would appear that she was sleeping. She didn't want him to catch her awake at this time of night or else he would ask questions. He had already caught her on the laptop once before and she did not want a repeat. Carol felt the dip in the bed as Ed settled in on top of the blanket. He reeked of alcohol and Carol tried not to flinch at the smell. She managed to keep her breathing slow and even without gagging and relaxed more as she heard Ed's snores fill the air. With him asleep she didn't have to worry as much. Her thoughts, like every night began to drift toward her online friend. She met him online a few months ago in a local chat room. They haven't shared their photo's in all the time they have talked and sometimes she wondered who she was actually talking to. However,she did enjoy their talks when they were able to have them. It was really awkward at first and she was hesitant about talking with anyone online. She found though that she could be more open and it was easier to talk about herself with perfect strangers that she would probably never meet. Sometimes she wish she could meet him though. From what little they have talked about their lives they were quite similar. He made her feel better when she was down and it helped to have someone who understood. Carol let out a small sigh as she shifted her position to her side, facing away from Ed. She began to picture what it would be like to be far away from Ed. To take Sophia and get out, out and free from living under his abusive ways. She also imagined how it would be to meet her online friend.

_Daryl. _Carol stifled a laugh as she remembered how their names rhymed. They had laughed about it once. The first time he told her his name she made him guess what hers was. She was curious as to what he would come up with when she told him their names rhymed together. He came up with all kinds of names, even ones that didn't rhyme which would make her laugh. Finally she had up and told him that it was Carol. The conversation had went on from their as they continued on guessing other things about one another. She had told him about Sophia and her daily life. They talked about their hobbies, favorite pets, foods, and past time activities. She learned that he was good at hunting and tracking and loved crossbows. He told her about the different types of game you could get while hunting and she often felt bad for the squirrels he told her about. He talked about his brother a bit. She didn't know a whole lot other than his name and that he was the older brother as Daryl didn't talk much about him. Over the months of learning about each other Carol grow more and more attached to her online companion. She opened up more about her life which was how the talk of her situation with Ed and his with his family came about. They had talked for hours that time. Ed had been gone all day and with Sophia at school Carol had done all the household chores before sitting down at the computer. Daryl had been home that day as well and the talk went on for hours and hours until she had to go and pick up Sophia. Carol thought back to another time when she had left the laptop open and in the chat when she went to the restroom and Sophia had gone on. Carol had come back out to Sophia herself chatting with Daryl and Sophia had proceeded to ask all sorts of questions. It made for an interesting day until Ed had come home earlier than expected. They had both gotten off the chat quickly and Carol had changed it to a math website to pretend she had been helping Sophia with math. Ed had ranted about her being on the laptop but had quickly gotten a few things before leaving the house again. Carol had gone back on the chat to explain to Daryl before getting offline for the night. She and Sophia had then sat and watched a movie before having a small dinner. Sophia had then gone for a bath and then to bed when Ed had gotten back home. He was in a bad mood and refused the food Carol set in front of him at the table. He began ranting about his day and the laptop again and how everyone was out to get him and...

Carol shook her head as the memories turned from good to bad. She settled deeper into her position on the bed and brought up more happy thoughts as she finally drifted off into sleep.

Xxxxxx

The next morning Carol got Sophia up and the three of them had breakfast at the table. It was quiet on a Saturday and before to long Ed got up from the table and moved to his spot in his recliner to watch more TV. He had only just turned on the TV when a news channel caught Carol's eye. Ed hadn't turned it yet and she watched as he sat up straighter in the chair. Looking at the screen she could see a very panicked looking news person who was telling a story about a virus outbreak and how it was killing people quickly. Carol let out a gasp as she saw a person stalking up behind the news person and to her horror she watched as the person bit into the shoulder of the news castor. The screen quickly blacked out as an automated message came across the screen.

**This is not a drill all citizens are encouraged to stay in their homes with locked windows and doors. Do not leave your homes until addressed otherwise. For your own safety do not exit your homes. **

The message repeated itself constantly after it ended and Carol felt a bit of panic rise. Ed was grumbling about special effects but Carol could see the small bit of fear that flashed across his eyes. He turned to her.

"Pack our bags woman! It's time to leave" he hollered at her and Carol felt the blood leave her face. She knew better than to talk back to him and quickly grabbed Sophia to do as bid. With enough clothes packed to last them a while Carol sent Sophia downstairs with a large bag and cooler to fill with food and water. Carol's attention wavered on the laptop. She knew she couldn't take it but if she could just send a message. Looking out the bedroom door Carol quickly grabbed the laptop and brought up the chat. She typed in a quick message about what had happened and how she hoped he was okay. She had just finished sending the message before she heard stomping up the stairs. She shut the laptop and tossed it under the bed and rushed to the door. Ed had just entered the hallway when she got there.

"What are you doing! Let's go, haven't got all day" he huffed as he grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her with him. She quickened her steps and moved down the stairs. Carol was reluctant to go anywhere but knew what would happen if she refused. So when she was told to pack everything in the car she did so and as they drove away she couldn't help but wonder what would happen next.

**So there's the first chapter. Dammit Ed, never listens to anyone. It's really hard for me not to just kill him off right away lol I dislike him greatly. Anywho let me know how I did. I wrote this now at 1am so I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes. Healthy criticism encouraged! **

**Golden Promise out!**


	2. Atlanta

**Thanks for the reviews! and follows and favorites! Gosh I must be doing something right. I'm glad I have intrigued you and glad you like it so far. I hope I shall live up to the expectation. Some things in this story will be changed and different from the original storyline but I will keep it as close as I can.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead**

The world had gone to shit. People were dead, dying and being eaten by messed up zombie people. Yeah, gone to shit was an understatement and as Daryl drove through another small town he found himself hating it more and more. His brother was driving in front of him on his motorcycle and by the way he was driving he probably shouldn't have been.

After that first initial scream the previous night things had gotten worse. Daryl had exited the small trailer he was held up in and had looked down the street to see people running in all directions. Most being chased by someone, or something else. It was crazy. Instantly Daryl had gone back into his trailer and grabbed his crossbow, a quiver of arrows, a duffel bag and filled it with what food he could carry in it. He had only just got back to the door when it had slammed open and Merle had been there.

"Well lil brother seems the world went to shit. Time to get the hell out of here" he had said as he grabbed a few guns from the case over on the far side of the trailer. Daryl had to agree and as he settled into his truck and Merle pulled up beside him on his bike, screams still in the air he had to ask.

"Where we goin?. Seems this shit is everywhere if it has ta do with whatever the hells been on the news" he said as he started the truck. Merle had shrugged on his bike.

"Heard from a friend there's somethin up in Atlanta that's supposed ta be some kind of shelter. I say we head on up and check it out" he had said and they had both started their way there.

Traffic had been bad as vehicles were backed up all along the highway. Putting things at a stand still for a while which made time for Daryl's thoughts to drift toward Carol. He would have liked to send her an email, not that there had been a chance. Hell there wasn't even any power let alone internet. He wondered if she and Sophia were okay. No doubt her husband would rather throw then at them crazy zombie people then risk himself. Daryl's fists had clenched the steering wheel harder at the thought and he knew it was true. He wanted to find them, help in whatever way he could but he didn't even know where they lived. According to the radio everywhere was being hit with whatever the hell this was so he knew they were probably doing the same thing he and his brother were doing. Hell maybe she was even heading to Atlanta as well, there was always that chance. Daryl let out a huff of breath through his nose. What would be the chance? And what would he even say to her if he did meet up with her and her family. He knew he wanted to beat the crap out of her husband for one thing. His mind wandered back too stories she had told him. Yeah, he definitely wanted to beat the crap out of him.

It was late afternoon when traffic started to get bad again. People were laying on their horns and by this time he and Merle had managed to get the motorcycle up on the back of the truck and Merle was sleeping away in the passenger seat. His snores were irritating so Daryl put a cd in the trucks stereo and turned the music up to drown out Merle's snoring. That worked for a while as traffic started moving forward bit by bit. What seemed like hours later but was probably only one hour Merle sat up in the truck seat.

"What a power nap that was. Hey lil brother what did you grab for snacks before we left? Ol Merle's feeling a bit hungry" he asked as he ruffled through the duffel bag that was sitting behind them on top of the seats. Moments later the sound of ripping bags filled the truck as Merle opened a bag of chips.

"Traffic aint moving to quickly by the looks of it" Merle said through a mouthful of chips. Daryl shrugged.

"Lotta people probably heading the same place we are"

"Well then, guess it was common knowledge about this ol shelter" Merle said.

"Guess so" was Daryl's only response. Merle looked at him.

"You're sure talkative today lil brother" he said.

"Lot on my mind" Daryl told him.

"Like what?" Merle pressed. Daryl glanced over at him as traffic stopped again.

"In case you didn't notice. There were literally walking zombies back at my place. Not to mention all this world ending shit"

"Well aint nothing I can do about that" Merle said with a laugh. "On the bright side we got our weapons in case we run across any of them _zombies _out there"

Daryl looked out the windshield, willing traffic to go fast so the conversation would end. At least Merle had gone back to eating his chips and silence fell over the truck. Aside from the car horns blaring in the distance.

It was near dark and people had gotten out of their vehicles and were walking up and down the highway, checking out what was holding traffic for so long. Daryl felt the stiffness in his legs and back from being in the drivers seat for so long so he opened his door and got out. He noticed Merle doing the same and the brothers moved away from the truck to stretch out a bit. They were out of the trucks for not even a few minutes before the sound of a helicopter flew over their heads. Everyone around them lifted their heads to look at the helicopter and some followed it through the trees. Daryl and Merle followed behind others as they moved through the trees. They came to an open spot and a little ways in the distance was Atlanta. Daryl heard the sound of another helicopter and it too flew over their heads. Both were over Atlanta and and not a moment later the sounds of screaming could be heard from the city as the helicopters release bomb after bomb. Gasps could be heard from the people watching.

"Well shit"Merle said. "There goes that place"

XXxxxxxXX

Carol fidgeted in her seat, alternating between playing with the seatbelt strap and wringing her hands together. Traffic was backed up all along the highway and they had been sitting there for quite a while.

"Damn traffic. What's the hold up people" Ed hollered out the window. The only response from others was they didn't know and the sounds of car horns honking up ahead.

"Mom, was there an accident or something?" Sophia asked from the back seat. She had been quiet for the hour long drive it took to get to this point.

"Not sure Soph. Seems to be backed up quite a ways so it's possible" Carol told her daughter as she turned back to look at her. Sophia only nodded before turning her attention back out the window. Long tree lines lined either side of the highway but there wasn't much else to see.

Due to the traffic still not moving Ed began to rant about road blocks or how people needed to learn how to drive and so on. Carol ignored him as much as possible and kept and eye out the window. She watched as families got out of their vehicles and let the kids play by the side of the road as the parents kept an eye on them from the front of the car or truck. One man was playing catch with his two sons and a woman was brushing and styling her daughters hair. Carol felt herself jump at the sudden static sound as Ed turned on the radio. It was much to loud but Carol didn't want to say anything. Theres wasn't much on the radio. Mostly static filled the channels except the odd one that was playing music. It wasn't long before even those channels grew silent. Ed began grumbling again as he smacked a hand down over top of where the stereo was.

"Damn thing" He said in an irritated voice.

"It's not the stereo, the radio stations have just all been shut down" Carol said before thinking better and held her breath. Ed sent a glare her way.

"I know that, I'm not stupid" he told her before grabbing the handle and exiting the car. Carol let out her breath before turning back to Sophia.

"Want to get out of the car?" she asked with a grin. Sophia smiled back and nodded eagerly. They both got out and walked around the front of the car to where Ed was standing. Ed started walking off to talk with a few people to see if he could tell what was going on.

"What's going to happen mom?" Sophia asked from beside her. Carol let out a sigh.

"I'm not sure. Unless this traffic clears up it will be hard to get anywhere" Carol told her. Sophia nodded.

"Do you think Daryl is okay?" she asked. Carol, startled turned to her. She let out a smile.

"I'm sure he's fine" Carol told her. She tried to keep thoughts of Daryl from her mind. She didn't really know if he was okay but figured with his history in hunting he'd be better off than anyone.

Carol looked around them again and noticed a young boy standing off by himself while she assumed was his mom talked with another guy who seemed to be fiddling with a car radio.

"Why don't you go over and say hello" Carol suggested to Sophia who looked over where her mom was gesturing. Sophia took a hesitant step before looking at her mom again. Carol just smiled and reassured, Sophia walked over to the boy. Carol watched as they started up a conversation with each other. She then started walking over to the woman leaning in the car. As she approached she could hear them.

"Anything?" asked the woman.

"Nope, nothing" came the mans reply.

"Seems all the radio stations are out now" Carol said as she stood a little ways behind. The woman looked back to her and smiled before straightening.

"Seems like" she said holding out a hand to shake. "Lori"

"Carol" she responder with a smile and took Lori's hand. "That over there is my daughter Sophia" she motioned over where Sophia and the boy were talking.

"That's my son Carl. And this is Shane" Lori said, motioning to the man in the car.

"You both have a lovely son" Carol told them.

"Oh Shane's not Carl's dad. Um his father passed" Lori cleared her throat. "He passed recently"

"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't realize" Carol quickly said. Lori waved a hand.

"Don't worry about it. Is it just you and your daughter or?" Lori questions.

"My husband Ed, went up to talk with some of the people up there" Carol told her. Lori nodded and hey started talking about other things to pass the time. Traffic wasn't moving at all so they had plenty of time to talk.

Dark fell around them as it got later and tension was running a little high as people didn't want to be stuck on the road after dark. Still no one knew why traffic was at a standstill. Carol, Lori and the kids were near Carol's car when Carl spoke up.

"Mom I'm thirsty" he told Lori.

"We have plenty of water and juice boxes in the car" Carol told them. "I can grab him one" Lori thanked her as she began moving toward the car doors. She opened the door but before she could grab a drink Ed's hands wrapped around her forearm.

"What do you think you're doing?" came his words. Carol looked at him.

"The children are thirsty, I was getting them a drink" she responded.

"These are our supplies. If we keep handing them out to people there wont be any left for us. Leave it" he told her. Carol went to argue that they had plenty of drinks but before she could everyone's attention snapped to the sky at the sound of a helicopter. It flew directly over them and Shane quickly began moving, following the helicopter as it went over the wooded area. Many other people did the same and Carol and company followed as well. When they came to an open spot they looked down at the view of a city.

"Is that Atlanta?" Lori asked.

"Yeah, that's it" Shane told her. They all stood and watched as the helicopter hovered over the city and watched as another one came from the opposite direction. Lori was about to ask another question when things began to blow up in the city.

They were dropping bombs.

**So seems like they are closer than they know. I have decided that I hate dialogue and it does not help my confidence with these characters but I'm going to push through it anyway.**

**To answer a question They will meet up at the quarry or maybe a bit before. not 100% sure yet. Trying to figure out where I'm going with this. Reviews are encouraged and criticism is welcome to help me along with this story.**

**thanks again! Golden Promise out**


	3. Quarry

**Woo! chapter 3! thank you everyone who followed/favorited this story also thanks to those who reviewed! glad I'm doing something right. Hope you enjoy chapter 3**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the walking dead**

"It's been over run. That's the only thing I can think of for why they would be dropping bombs on the city" Shane said as they all quickly began moving back to the cars.

"So what now? They just destroyed the only hope we had for safety" Lori told him as she kept pace, Carl right beside her. Shane paused for a minute and faced her.

"That place was not the only hope we had. We can go anywhere, there's gotta be another place with a safe house. I will keep you and Carl safe" Shane said. They continued walking and Carol couldn't help but wonder what they would do now. Atlanta had fallen to the zombies and they didn't know where else to go. Then a thought hit her.

"Isn't there a park somewhere near here?" Carol asked their small group. They all stopped again and looked at her. Shane had a thoughtful expression on his face before nodding.

"Yeah there's an old quarry there too. It's fairly high in the mountains so the altitude might deter the dead from coming up there. We could hold up there for a while, find out if there's another place we could go from there" the evidence was clear on Shane's face that he thought it would be a good idea.

"We'll check and see what all we have for supplies before" he started again before being interrupted.

"Um, excuse me I couldn't help but over hearing. You folks say you know a place you can go? I got two girls here with me and we'd love it if you'd let us tag along" An older man said as he walked over to them. Two women were right behind him, both were blond but one was clearly older than the other which was confirmed when they introduced themselves. The older looking woman was the first to approach.

"Hi, my name's Andrea and this is my younger sister Amy" she said as she held out a hand to Shane to shake. She continued on down the line of people, shaking hands as she went. Amy did the same giving a greeting of hello as she went. Shane began the introductions of their small group.

"I'm Shane, this is Lori and Carl. The woman over there is Carol, her daughter Sophia and her husband Ed" he told the three. The old man nodded to each of them.

"My names Dale. Would it be too much trouble if we tagged along? I got an RV up on the highway. Got a few tents in the storage compartment, we could use them at that park you mentioned" Dale told them. Shane didn't think very long before walking forward and gripping Dale's hand.

"We'd appreciate that Dale. The more the merrier" Shane told him. After working out a few more details the group continued back up to the road. Many people had abandoned there cars to go off and find somewhere to go. A few had managed to get their vehicles out of the line and had driven off. It wasn't long till they got back to their vehicles and Dale, Andrea and Amy joined them quickly after. They got the RV turned around to head back to the group and Shane, Lori and Ed moved other cars as far out of they way as they could to get the two cars out. Carol, Ed and Sophia got into their car and followed Shane's group toward the park and quarry.

It didn't take long to find the road leading to the quarry. They had passed the park sign five minutes previous and Carol looked out the window. Even though it was dark the view was spectacular. The moon was high in the sky and it cast shadows on the trees.

When they finally came to the quarry Carol looked excitedly out the windshield. The open space around the quarry was clearly visible in the lights from the car and the space was perfect for camping. The quarry itself was breath taking, the clear blue water sparkled in the moonlight and the moons reflection was clearly visible on the water. It was such a beautiful place to camp and Carol couldn't wait to get out of the car and look around. However, she remembered the danger and felt apprehension at the darkness that surrounded the area. Anything could be lurking in the dark and Carol happily let the men go about and check things out before getting out of the car. Once the men gave the all clear Carol let Sophia get out of the car and got out herself.

"It's so quiet" Carol said. Crickets chirped in the background and Mosquitos were bothersome to the people gathered around.

"We should get some tents set up for the night. Have someone keep watch in case any of those things come up here. Set some barricades up in the morning, or at least something to warn us in case anything tries to get into camp" Shane spoke as he gestured to multiple spots where they could set said barricades. Everyone agreed and were just about to get started when a voice spoke up.

"Um hey there" the voice said. Everyone jumped and Shane was quick to draw a hand gun from his waist band and spin around to the voice. A man stepped forward into the light of the vehicles, hands raised. He wore a baseball jersey and a ball cap on his head. A small pack was over one shoulder.

"Whoa, don't shoot! I saw your lights head up here and followed" he said. Shane wavered for a minute before lowering the gun. The newcomer lowered his hands and let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm Glenn" he introduced himself and introductions of everyone in the group soon followed.

"so how'd you get up here Glenn? We didn't hear another vehicle" Shane asked. Glenn looked embarrassed.

"I rode up here on my bike" he told them. Carol raised an eyebrow from her space across Glenn. Most of them were surprised.

"You rode a bicycle at night with the dead roaming around?" Shane asked incredulous.

"Yeah well, it's the only transportation I have" Glenn said with a grin.

"Well Glenn, we were just about to set up some tents for the night and decide who will take second watch. I'll be first, can I count you for second?" Shane asked. Glenn nodded.

"Of course" Glenn agreed. With watch being set up Dale brought out the few tents he had. Andrea and Amy were going to stay in the RV with him as well as Glenn when he was done watch. Carol, Ed and Sophia would have one tent and Shane, Lori and Carl would take the other two. Dale handed the tent to Ed and walked off to give the other two to Shane and Lori. Once he was gone Ed dropped the tent at Carol's feet.

"Have at it. I'm not setting up no tent. Gonna go for a piss" He stated as he walked off to one of the bushes. Carol let out a breath as she bent to retrieve the tent. Sophia came closer and helped put the poles together. They worked together to get the tent up and once it was finished Ed wandered back over to the and entered the tent. He barked at Carol to grab him a blanket out of the car and Carol was quick to go and retrieve one. She ignored the looks from the others as she handed the blanket in to Ed. She wasn't quite ready to go into the tent so she lead Sophia back over to the car and got out a change of clothes for the two of them. Carol held up another blanket as Sophia change and sent her to the fire that had been started by Shane. It was low so as not to be seen and attract the dead. Carol made sure Sophia got to the fire before she got into the car to change herself. Once she was done she too headed over to the fire and sat down. Carl and Sophia were chatting with each other and Lori was quick to draw Carol into the conversation she was having with Andrea and Amy. They talked for a long while before Amy let out a yawn. Sophia had come over and sat with Carol and she to was looking ready for sleep. Carol ran a hand through Sophia's hair before standing. Sophia had just risen before Ed appeared at the fire.

"We were just heading to bed" she was quick to say as she hurried with Sophia over to the tent. Ed followed behind her silently until they got into the tent.

"Hurry up and go to bed. You don't need to socialize with those people" he told her. Carol nodded and set up a spot for herself and Sophia while Ed plopped down on his blanket and pulled it over himself. He was asleep in minutes and Carol layed down between him and Sophia.

"Goodnight mom" Sophia whispered.

"Goodnight Sophia" Carol whispered back. Carol looked at the roof of the tent as Ed's snores echoed. It was a while before she fell asleep but when she did it was a deep sleep with no dreams.

Two days later showed progress in the barricades. The group had managed to find some string they used to attach used cans to. They then tied either end of the strings to small trees. This way if something hit it the cans would jingle and they would hear them. Tents were set up in a semi circle to block the wind when there was one. A spot was set up for the fires and some lawn chairs were set around the pits. Another spot was made for a makeshift kitchen and there was some large buckets they used to bring water from the quarry up with. Laundry was done down at the quarry and a makeshift clothes line was set up to dry the wet clothes.

A couple more people had joined their small group and were helping around the camp. This however also meant that their food supply was dwindling. The problem was brought up first by Shane who had called a meeting of all those present.

"Alright everyone, our supply of food is beginning to get smaller. We have enough for another day or two before it;s gone. Now the fires from the bombs in Atlanta should be smaller or even almost gone by now. We need to put together a group to go in and look for some supplies. There has to be someplace that wasn't hit by the bombs" he told them.

"I'll do it" A voice said. Everyone turned to look at who volunteered and saw it was Glenn.

"I know my way around and I'm quick. Could be in and out quick and with no problems" he told them. Shane nodded.

"Okay. Who's going with him?" Shane asked the others. Glenn quickly piped up again.

"I'd rather go by myself. Less distractions that way and it will make the in and out quicker. Just lend me a car and I can get the supplies" he said.

"I'd feel better if you had another person with you to watch your back" Shane told him.

"I'll be fine. If I head out now I could make it back before dark" Glenn said as he picked up his pack. Shane argued his point with Glenn for a bit before finally giving in. HE gave Glenn the keys to his car and handed him a gun.

"If you run into any problems you get out of there. Come back and we'll put together a group" Shane told him as he handed him the gun. Glenn nodded and headed out. Once he was gone Shane turned to Ed and two of the male newcomers.

"While he's gone we can go out into the woods. See if there's anything we can catch" he told them. The men grabbed a weapon to take with them before heading out.

Carol watched as Andrea and Amy went up to Dale and asked him if he had any fishing rods. Dale produced a couple and the two woman proceeded down to the quarry. Presumably to try and catch some fish. Carol then looked over at Sophia who was playing a card game with Carl that Dale had taught them. Lori and another woman were helping Carol hang up the wet laundry they had washed earlier. With most of their group off doing something Carol knew it would be a long day.

Shane, Ed and the other two were busy looking around for any game. They weren't having much luck as their footfalls were too loud. They knew they weren't likely to catch anything but didn't want to go back to camp without anything they could eat. Shane thought he saw a rabbit but it quickly disappeared into the brush. Each of the men let out frustrated breaths and walked on. They had been walking for what seemed hours before they heard a voice.

"What the hell are you people doin out here? Sound like a damn herd of elephants tromping through this forest. You're scarin away all the game"

**And there's chapter 3. Hope you enjoyed! drop me a review and let me know how I did. Healthy criticism is welcome.**


	4. Welcome To Camp

**Okay so here's chapter 4 :) not as confident with this chapter as with the others so I hope I did an okay job. Let me know!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead**

"What the hell are you people doin out here? Sound like a damn herd of elephants tromping through this forest. You're scarin away all the game" Daryl hollered as he came into view of the group. He and Merle had been tracking a deer for quite a ways and had it in their sights until branches were cracking and loud voices could be heard. The deer had taken off and Daryl's frustration had risen.

"Y'all scared away that deer we been chasin" said Merle as he came to stand beside Daryl overlooking the group. "Buncha idiots" he rambled on. The man that looked to be the one in charge of the small group came forward.

"Sorry. Guess we can say we aren't cut out to be hunters" he said with a laugh. Merle snorted.

"Ain't that an understatement. Y'all gotta be real quiet in these here woods. Animals can hear ya comin a mile away" Merle said.

"You men with another group?" The guy asked them. Daryl didn't need to answer as Merle beat him to it.

"Nah, just me and my lil' brother here. See we don't play to nice with others. Prefer to be on our own" Merle told him. Daryl looked at Merle with a raised eyebrow before turning back to the man.

"We 'play' just fine with others. Merle and I just like to be on our own"

"Been that way a long time ya see. We don't need no one else" Merle added in.

"Well Merle and..." the man trailed off.

"Daryl"

"Well Merle and Daryl my name's Shane. We have a group up at the old quarry. Got food, shelter, all the water we need. It's a good spot and you both seem like valuable people to have around. Any way we could convince you to join us for a bit?" the man, Shane asked them.

"Well considerin you scared away our deer I recon some food sounds mighty nice. Might be willin to stay a while" Merle told him. Shane nodded and the six of them started on their way to whatever camp this Shane guy talked about. Daryl wanted to keep hunting but his stomach had growled at the mention of food and he knew they hadn't had anything since that morning. Merle had long ago finished off their food. Probably thinking it wouldn't be hard to get more. So Daryl followed along as Shane led them back and when they hit the barricades Daryl was impressed. It was good thinking to have something set up to warn them if the dead were coming closer. Not that he or Merle had seen any while they were out in the woods.

"They went over the barricades and continued another minute before coming into the camp itself. Daryl was surprised. It looked like any old campsite. Tents, a fire pit, makeshift kitchen spot and a clothesline. People were moving about doing whatever needed doing. A few kids were playing some kind of game, women were hanging up clothes. Another was washing some plates and an older man was sitting atop the RV. He was the first to notice them and waved a hand. Shane waved back.

"Got some new folks Dale" he called up to the man. Daryl watched as the man Dale nodded.

"Andrea and Amy have gone down to the quarry to see if they can catch some fish. Glenn's still gone but that's to be expected. Everyone else is present and haven't seen anything moving out there yet" Dale hollered down to them. The three men that were with Shane wandered off. One man went to the woman washing dishes, and the other two went into separate tents. Daryl awkwardly shifted his feet as he wondered what exactly to do. Merle had no problems however and went right to the women hanging clothes. Daryl followed behind but stopped to sit on one of the logs someone pulled up to the fire pit. He swung his crossbow off his back and pulled a rag from his back pocket. He decided to clean his crossbow up a bit and didn't notice how long he was at it until a bowl was all but shoved under his nose. His body tensed for a moment before relaxing as he set his bow down and took the bowl. It was filled with some kind of stew and his stomach growled as the aroma floated under his nose. He looked up to thank the person who brought it to him and felt the words get caught in his throat. It was one of the women that was hanging the clothes. She had short slightly graying hair and was wearing a flower patterned shirt. She had a small smile plastered on her face.

"Figured you might be hungry. Your brother sure dug into his quick enough" she said. Her voice was soft and Daryl could only nod and mumble a small thanks. She gave him another smile before turning and heading back to where the other women were. Daryl couldn't help but watch her retreating form as thoughts swirled in his head. He started to wonder again what Carol would look like in real life. They had never exchanged photos. Alls he saw from her profile picture was a really old photo that she said was from when she was a child. It made him wonder if she might look like the short haired woman that had brought him the stew like the child with short hair in the picture. Or if she had long hair. Shaking his head Daryl dug into the stew in his bowl but every so often he found his eyes roaming over to the woman again. There was just something about her that drew his attention and he couldn't put his finger on it.

Once he was finished the stew he rose to take the bowl over to the makeshift sink. Once he got there he dunked it in the water before another woman grabbed it from him.

"Don't worry about that, i'll get it clean" she told him. Daryl nodded before once again moving away. His eyes found Merle eating what was probably his second bowl of stew and chatting with Dale who had come down from the RV. His eyes started wandering again when he noticed a man talking to the woman with short hair. He was a larger man, hair cut short. His hand had grabbed the woman and he was saying something to her in low tones. Daryl saw her expression and watched her eyes look at the ground. She nodded and the man let her go. He moved off and the woman went back to what she was doing only she didn't talk much to the other woman as she had done before.

Daryl's thoughts moved again to Carol and what she had told him about her husband. He was an abusive ass and always grabbed her to roughly and Daryl couldn't help but compare those stories to what he had just seen from those two. He wondered if it were possible that the woman was Carol but quickly disregarded the thought. What were the chances of that? She could be anywhere in the world, how funny would it be if she happened to be right there and he had witnessed the bastard put his hands on her. Besides Daryl knew she had a daughter, Sophia who he was pretty sure wouldn't go all that far from her mother. His eyes moved toward the few children who were now playing a card game. There were a couple female children and he wondered if any of them were the womans daughter. Daryl wanted to smack himself. He needed to quit thinking like that, he couldn't keep thinking the woman was Carol, he didn't even know her name. It could be Charlotte or Mandy or some name like that. Of course his thoughts were interrupted once again as one of the children, a girl, moved away from the other kids and walked over to the women who were just finishing up the rest of the hanging of the laundry. His breath caught as the girl walked right up to the woman who gave him the food.

"Mom, is there anything I can help with. I'm kind of bored with the card game" the girl asked her.

"You could always see if Lori wants some help with the rest of those dishes from lunch. Other than that everything is pretty much done till later" the woman told her. The girl nodded and went over to the woman who had taken his bowl from him. She smiled at the girl.

"Thanks Sophia. I would love the help. Grab that rag there and you can dry while I wash okay?" The woman who he assumed was Lori told...Sophia. Daryl felt his heart rate kick up a notch. He had to move so he headed over to Merle and Dale and sat down. His brother greeted him but Daryl didn't respond to him. The woman had a daughter named Sophia and a man that had grabbed her roughly and their talk seemed to make her draw away from the other women. Carol had a daughter named Sophia and a husband who was an abusive prick. Daryl couldn't help thinking that it had to be Carol and his thoughts were confirmed when he heard one of the kids call her name from their spot.

"Hey Carol! Can you come here a minute?" and the woman of his thoughts walked over to the kid.

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Carol had seen the two men come back with the rest of the group that had gone to hunt. They obviously didn't have much luck but they had brought back two more people. She watched from the corner of her eye as the group branched off, going in different directions and the newcomers start in her, Jacqui and a woman named Miranda's direction. One of them stopped to sit on one of the logs and the other one continued toward them. When he stopped in front of them he introduced himself.

"Hello ladies. Name's Merle, that over there is my lil' brother Daryl. We was wondering if we could get a lil somethin to eat?" he asked, seemingly polite. Carol smiled but it wavered a little bit.

_Merle and Daryl, _she thought. It sounded familiar and she knew it was because online Daryl too had a older brother named Merle. Carol moved to make up a bowl of the stew that they had made for lunch earlier that was still simmering over the fire closest to the kitchen spot. She handed a bowl to Merle and watched as he quickly dug into the stew. Carol quickly made up another bowl and started over to Daryl sitting on a log. She couldn't help the thoughts that went through her head. Could this be her Daryl? How many Daryl's were there out there that had an older brother named Merle? She thought as she drew closer. The man had pulled his weapon around to clean and her steps faltered a bit as she watched him clean the crossbow.

_Daryl's favorite weapon, _she thought as she reached him and held the bowl out under his nose where he could see it. He looked up at her and took the bowl. She gave him a smile.

"Figured you might be hungry. Your brother sure dug into his quick enough" she told him. He nodded and mumbled a thanks. Carol smiled again before turning and going back over to the other women. She would leave him to eat his stew and maybe later she could make time to ask him if he roamed the internet before all this. Carol laughed quietly to herself. He didn't seem very talkative and she didn't know if she could even work up the courage to ask him.

As she helped finish up the rest of the laundry she chatted with Jacqui. They were laughing at something Miranda had said before Carol felt a hand grab her arm. She couldn't help the flinch at the familiar bruising grip of Ed's hand.

"Thought I told you not to get to comfortable with the others" he told her in a low voice as not to alert the others who had moved to the clothesline from the basket of laundry. Carol's eyes lowered and she nodded her head meekly. Anything to get him to let her go.

"Don't forget again. You don't need anyone else. They don't care about you, just focus on me and your kid" he told her as his grip tightened. Carol nodded again and Ed let her go and walked off. Carol let out a breath and had to force herself not to rub the spot his hand had grabbed as Jacqui and Miranda returned. They continued with their conversation and Carol felt herself nod here and there and she didn't realize that Daryl was watching her. She seemed to zone out as they finished the laundry until she saw Sophia coming toward her. She put on a smile as her daughter stopped in front of her and asked if there was anything she could do. She told her she could help Lori and as Sophia wen't off to do just that Carol dumped the extra water from the basket that held the wet laundry. She heard Carl call for her from the spot where they were playing cards and as she walked over to them she saw Daryl out of the corner of her eye watching her.

She could only think, Could this really be the Daryl she knows?

**So there it is. I apologize that my chapters are so short. Let me know how I did. Healthy criticism welcome!**


	5. Heart To Heart

**Hello there all you followers of this story! I'm really excited for the next couple chapters and I hope you are too! This is when things begin to change from the original timeline to fit how I want this story to go. So let me know if you love it or hate it :P Here you are chapter 5!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead**

It was nearly nightfall before Glenn finally returned in one of the old cars that some of the newcomers had driven up in when they arrived. Shane was one of the first people to approach him and they talked for a minute in low tones. Carol watched from near the makeshift kitchen where the women were trying to decide what to make for dinner. Andrea and Amy had managed to get a few fish but not nearly enough for the whole group. The little hunting trip proved unsuccessful as noted when the group came back empty handed. They had all heard the story already from Merle who kept ranting about how the group was too loud to be hunting in the woods. How they had chased away the deer he and Daryl had been tracking. Daryl had sat quietly as his brother talked, not putting much input to what Merle was saying.

Carol was brought out of her recollection when Lori nudged her.

"Better go see what he brought back" Lori said and the two women moved to go to the car Glenn had returned in. As they reached the two men, Shane slapped Glenn on the back and the two moved to the trunk of the car. They opened the trunk and Lori and Carol smiled as they saw cans of food, a few more tents, some blankets and some cooking gear and utensils.

"I grabbed what I could, packed the car then came right back" Glenn said as he began picking up bags and some loose cans. Carol and Lori helped as did Shane and they carried everything over to the makeshift kitchen. The cans of food and utensils were taken out and stacked on the table so they could go through everything. After those things were unloaded Shane and Glenn moved off to hand out the few tents Glenn had brought back. Blankets were also handed out to those who didn't have any yet and were just using their layers of clothing to protect them from the cold.

Carol smiled at Lori as they pulled cans out to look at their labels.

"Beans, peas, pineapple and some cans of chicken noodle soup" Carol named off as she read the cans.

"Well we can use the fish Andrea and Amy brought back, cook up the peas and a couple of the cans of beans" Lori said as she pulled out enough for that meal. Carol nodded and as they set to work on the meal she tried not to laugh. The beans weren't going to go over well with the group.

It took a bit of time but with Andrea preparing the fish, Lori cooking the beans, and Carol on pea duty everything went along quicker than usual. When everything was done Lori called out that the food was ready and everyone gathered around and stepped up to get their serving. The camp was quiet as they ate. A few snippets of conversation went on around the low embers for fires that someone had started. Carol sat with Ed and Sophia and quietly ate her meal. Her family was one of the few silent ones and Carol found herself shifting in her seat. Sophia ate her food and stared at her plate. Ed ignored the two of them and ate his food quickly. As Carol was nearing the end of her meal she let her eyes roam over the site. The kids were talking excitedly now that some of them had finished their meal and the adults began talking about the day. Decisions were made for the next couple days. A group would be put together to go into Atlanta again to get more supplies that Glenn had mentioned there were.

"Many stores didn't seem to be affected by the bombs they dropped. Most were damaged I mean but not all of them" Carol could hear Glenn tell everyone. Andrea, Jacqui, Merle, and Morales volunteered to go and Shane agreed that the group could do it. Glenn was reluctant to have others go with him but resigned himself to the decision.

Daryl said he was going to do some hunting the next day and he headed off early to the tent he was going to share with Merle. Many of the group stayed up longer but some also started to their own tents to get some sleep for the next day. Ed was one of the ones to head off to the tent and Carol nudged Sophia to get her to help with the dishes. Carol, Sophia and Amy did the dishes that night and once everything was put away they too headed off to there tents. Carol once again layed down between Ed and Sophia and quickly drifted off to sleep once her head hit the pillow.

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The camp waved goodbye to the group heading to Atlanta two days later. Daryl had brought back some rabbits the previous day from his hunting trip so everyone had a good evening meal and breakfast that morning. Many in the group were happy to have meat again and groaned in pleasure as they had eaten. Praise had been directed at Daryl who had seemed embarrassed and quickly shook off any of the praise given. Carol had found herself smiling at his expression as he had walked off to clean his arrows and crossbow. She could also tell he wasn't used to the praise that was given to him, that much was obvious really to anyone who saw his reaction.

As the group headed for Atlanta drove off everyone became busy with everyday things. The women gathered up all the laundry into a couple baskets and headed down to the quarry where they had begun washing all of the clothes. They took turns that day and Lori and Carol were the first two to start off. They would wash what they had and the others would carry the baskets up and hang the clothes on the clothesline.

While they were down there Lori began talking to Carol about her life before the end of the world had happened. She talked about funny times and about when Carl was born. Carol was happy to listen and even inputted stories of her own. Of course she glossed over the situations with Ed as she didn't want anyone to know. When Lori got to talking about Rick's accident she began to choke up a bit.

"He got shot while out with Shane and a few other officers. He was in a coma and we didn't know if he would even wake up. Shane was at the hospital when all this went down, Carl was at school" she started. "When the warnings came on the tv and radio I went to go and get Carl from school. Shane had gone there too and told me what happened at the hospital. Said the monitors stopped working and he didn't think he was breathing. I had to tell Carl right there at his school about his dad and it was honestly the hardest thing I've ever done" she finished her story and Carol couldn't help but hug her.

"I'm sorry" was all Carol could think of to say and she knew even it wouldn't be enough. Nothing would. Lori nodded and wiped at her eyes before pulling away. They worked for a bit in silence before Carol started up the next conversation.

"you know, I used to talk to this person on the internet" Carol started, not sure why she was bringing it up. It caught Lori's attention however so she continued.

"We would talk for hours when I had the chance. Ed would sometimes go out for long periods of time and I'd hop on the computer" Carol said. "It was one of those online chat things. We had talked for a mew months before all this happened. Sophia even talked to him a few times. Once I went to the washroom and came back and she was laughing at something he had typed"

"Did he ever tell you his name?" Lori asked. She was a bit worried, knowing how many weird and sick people were on the internet.

"Daryl. He said his name was Daryl" Carol told her with a smile. She could see the recognition on Lori's face.

"Well what are the odds of that. Think it could be the Daryl who went hunting today?" Lori asked jokingly. Carol laughed.

"Could be, who knows really, we never exchanged pictures" Carol responded. Lori nudged her with her elbow.

"You should ask him" Lori told her. Carol shook her head.

"I probably wouldn't have the courage to ask" Carol said with a small smile. "Besides how would I even begin to ask? Did you ever talk to a woman named Carol on an internet chat?"

"That's one way to start the conversation. Or you could even be more subtle 'have you ever gone on an internet chat?' or you could go for an out right question. 'I used to talk to a guy named Daryl on an internet chat and I wonder if you might be him'" Lori said. They both laughed at that last one.

"I could never do that" Carol said after she had taken a breath to stop the laughter. "I don't know. It doesn't really matter now"

"Of course it does. Everyone could use all the friends they can get" Lori told her. Carol shrugged but couldn't help but agree, in this world having more friends would be better. However Ed wouldn't allow it. He had shut her off from friends before and he wouldn't hesitate to do it again she knew. The friends he didn't know she had were pretty much the only friends she _could _have. If she were to ever confront Daryl on that subject it would have to be done so Ed wouldn't know.

Carol was pulled out of her thoughts as Andrea and Jacqui came down to take over the washing and Carol and Lori grabbed the two small baskets to take up with them to hang up. When they got up to the campsite Amy, Dale and Shane were around the radio attempting to talk to someone through it. Disappointment was clear when they lost whoever it was they were talking to.

"Someone was on the radio but we couldn't get in contact with them" Shane told them as they came over.

"We can't get them back?" Lori asked. Shane shook his head.

Everyone continued on with what they were doing and it was hours later when the radio started up again. It was a guy named T-dog and he said he was with their group. He could be heard saying they were trapped on top of a building and that walkers were everywhere. Everyone was fearful for their group and even more so when they couldn't be heard anymore on the radio.

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It was late afternoon when the loud chirping of a car siren was heard. It brought everyone over to the road to see what was going on. A red car was speeding up the road, siren blaring and the kids began covering their ears as it got louder and louder. The car came to a stop beside the other vehicles and Glenn got out with a big smile on his face. He was instantly yelled at t o turn the siren off and when he said he didn't know how Shane went got it shut off. Amy was quick to ask about Andrea and Glenn was quick to reassure her that everyone was fine. Or rather everyone but Merle. As the white van drove up and everyone got out, Morales instantly went to his family and hugged them. Carol could see out of the corner of her eye that Lori was comforting Carl. Carol felt for the boy and she hugged Sophia close in front of her.

"How did you manage to get out?" Shane asked.

"New guy" Morales answered. Everyone was confused at this and once the new guy came out Carol saw a blurr in the corner of her eye and a call of "dad!" as Carl went past. Carol watched as Carl embraced the man and he in turn embraced Carl. Lori was quickly moving forward too and the three embraced. Carol's lips turned up in a smile and a hand moved to her face as her eyes began to water. She was so happy for Lori. This could only be Rick and she was glad he was alive to be with his family. They were complete now and Carol couldn't be happier for them. The only problem was one person was still missing from their group now, and she knew a certain someone who would not be happy with that.

_Daryl._

**And there you have it. Chapter 5 is complete and unfortunately it is another short chapter. However I'll let you in on a little secret. Chapter 6 is gonna be longer. Aha, once again thank you to everyone who has reviewed. They make me want to write more and more. Also big thanks to all you who Favorited and follow this story, I hope you are enjoying it. Drop a review, healthy criticism is welcome :)  
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	6. It's time

**Like I said, things are changing :P so much dialogue I had to go through. Anyway here's your longer chapter. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it for you. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead. **

It was after dark, everyone had eaten and settled around the low ember fires. Daryl was still out hunting some where in the woods. Would probably return tomorrow morning. Carol wasn't sure why he would choose to stay out in the woods at night but it had to be a Daryl thing. It worried her but it would probably be worse if he came back that night and found his brother not with the group that returned from Atlanta.

Around the fires the group retold their encounters from the day and T-dog was properly introduced to the group. Glenn claimed that he was a good friend from Atlanta and they had found him hidden in one of the first stores they visited for supplies. Rick began talking about how he had met up with the group and told everyone how Merle had gotten left behind.

"I dropped the damn key. Or else he would have been back with us" T-dog pitched in when it got to the escape part. Carol felt bad for Merle on one hand but on the other she didn't after hearing what Merle had done to T-dog. Everyone around the camp had probably figured out how much of a jackass Merle could be. Even in the short amount of time they had known him. Just then Carol's attention was caught by Ed who had gotten up to put another log on the fire. Carol couldn't say she was surprised he did it. It was fairly chilly that night however she knew the rules that had been put into place about the fires. Shane was quick to say something about it.

"You wanna rethink that log Ed?" he called over from the other fire.

"It's cold man" Ed said as he leaned back. He was obviously enjoying the heat that the fire was building now that it had more fuel.

"Cold doesn't mean we can break the rules does it?" Shane asked. "We keep our fires low to embers so we can't be seen from a distance"

"It's cold, why don't you mind your own business for once" Ed responded as he looked over at him. Shane was quick to get up and come over to the fire she, Ed and Sophia were seated at.

"You sure you want to have this conversation right now?" Shane asked in a low voice. Carol watched Ed mule it over for a second before her turned to her.

"Go on and pull it out then" he told her and when Carol didn't react quickly enough he told her again. Carol got up and was careful pulling the log out of the embers and now starting fire. She was careful not to get burned and once the log was out she quietly returned to her seat. Shane stamped out the fire on the log and crouched to talk to Carol and Sophia. She was mindful of Ed's gave on hers as Shane asked how they were doing.

"Fine, we're just fine" she told him. She was quick to apologize for the fire but Shane just waved it off. He told them to have a good evening and as he walked away he spoke to Ed.

"Appreciate the cooperation" was the last thing he said before moving back to the other fire and sitting down himself. Ed was still looking at Carol and she squirmed a bit in her seat, wishing his eyes would look somewhere else. Conversation was quiet for a few minutes but then Carol heard Dale bring up Daryl and what they were going to say when he got back. Carol herself wondered how Daryl would react. He would probably be angry, demand to go get his brother. If he was the Daryl she knew from the internet she knew he would definitely be angry and want to instantly go and get him. He obviously cared for his brother greatly and would not want to leave him on that rooftop for walkers. This brought Carol's mind to another fact. She hoped that chain that T-dog put around the door to stop it from opening would hold. She would hate it if Daryl would have to lose his brother. She knew she would if roles were reversed. If it were her sibling up there.

Everyone started to get up and head to bed once the conversation had edged off. Ed was one of the first to get up and got Carol to get up and go to. Carol led the way with Sophia while Ed followed behind. Once they got inside the tent Ed started grumbling about Shane.

"Thinks he's the boss of everything. No fire only embers, don't eat to much of the food, everything we have is to be shared" he mocked. "like to teach him a lesson once, thinks he's the boss cuz he was a cop. Well, he isn't one anymore" he continued. Carol Watched Sophia crawl into her sleeping bag before turning to Ed.

"Sophia's going to sleep now if we can keep a bit quiet" Carol bravely said.

"Shut up woman, I'll talk as loud as I want to" Ed told her harshly and Carol flinched. She said nothing as she to laid down. Ed mumbled a bit more to himself before going to sleep as well. The last thought running through Carol's mind before sleeping was if Daryl was okay out there in the woods by himself.

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It was the next morning and Carol was trying to straighten out some close when Rick finally made an appearance. Everyone had decided to let him sleep in, figuring he needed it. Carol let him know his clothes weren't quite dry yet and he thanked her for washing them for him. He then moved on over to Glenn, Dale and Jim who she knew were tearing apart Glenn's new car. She smiled to herself as she finished the was she was doing. Shane came back with the water and Carol couldn't help but be glad that it was such a peaceful morning. But it didn't last long.

Carl's loud calls could be heard and Carol started as she heard Sophia begin to call to. Lori was off quick at Carl's call and Carol did much the same. Both of them calling their children's names. Carol felt the fear wash over her as she hurried toward her daughters cries. Had a walker found their camp? Had someone been hurt? She tried to keep those kinds of thoughts from her mind but they quickly snuck up on her. Many of the camps members ran through the tree's at the children's calls and when they finally reached them Carol opened her arms up and Sophia ran straight into them. She held her daughter tight as the men went on ahead to see what was the matter. Carol could see from where they were that there was a walker (as the group had started calling them) gnawing on a deer. Then she noticed the arrows in the deer and knew it was shot by Daryl, or at least someone with some kind of bow. The men began beating on the walker until the head fell from the body. Carol cringed at the gore and looked down at Sophia making sure she was okay. Everyone was concerned that there was a walker so high up and at the snap of a twig everyone froze. If one had made it near them then others could have easily been around to. As tension rose Carol felt more fearful by the moment. However everyone sighed in relief as Daryl came in to view.

"So'm bitch" he said as he stepped from the trees. "That's my deer. Look at it all gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless, proxy bastard!" he said as he kicked the walker multiple times.

"Ease up Daryl. That's not helping" Dale told him.

"What do you know bout it old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to on golden pond" Daryl said while getting close to him. Daryl turned and began pulling the arrows out of thed deer stating that he had been tracking it or miles and how had been wanting to drag it back to camp. He asked the others if they thought they could cut around the gnawed on piece of the deer. Carol shivered at the thought and Shane was quick to jump and say he wouldn't risk it.

"I have a dozen squirrels or so. That'll have to do" he told them. Carol saw the head of the walker start to move and she quickly moved Sophia away from it, not wanting her to see. They decided to head back to the camp ahead of the men and as they walked everyone was keeping their eyes out for more.

When the men finally came back to camp Daryl immediately started calling for his brother and Carol felt bad at the news he would receive. Shane was quick to call to him to talk and Daryl looked around at everyone. Carol could tell by his face that he knew something had happened.

"He dead?" he asked.

"Not sure" came Shane's response. Daryl clearly began to get angry.

"Either he is or he ain't" Daryl told him and Rick was quick to jump in to the conversation. Rick explained what happened and told Daryl how he handcuffed Merle to the roof.

"Let me process this. You handcuffed my brother to a roof. And you left him there!" Daryl shouted angrily at Rick. At Rick's confirmation Daryl threw the squirrels at him and ran as if the begin beating on him. Shane intercepted him and they both tumbled to the ground. Then Daryl pulled a knife,got up and went at Rick again. The two locked in a short fight before Shane put him in a head lock and Rick dislodged the knife. Daryl was even angry as he told them they'd better let him go. Carol watched on by the RV and flinched when Daryl had pulled the knife. He was even angrier then she had assumed he'd be.

Wehn Rick and Shane had gotten him calmed down some Shane released the headlock and Rick continued to explain what happened. Carol could see Daryl's face get red, and his eyes get wet. He wiped at his face to hide the wetness of his eyes, but she caught it. Daryl told them to tell him where he is so he could go get him and Lori piped u that Rick would show him. As Rick confirmed that he was going back Lroi finished going up into the RV. Carol felt bad for Lori but she also knew someone should go with Daryl to get Merle.

A little while later discussion began about going to get Merle. It was decided that Daryl, Rick, Glenn and T-dog would be going. Shane wasn't happy and made that clear. Carol watched on from her spot at the laundry as the discussion continued. Rick mentioned a bag of guns that he dropped in Atlanta. The discussion went on for a while longer before the group going got everything together. Once that was done, they drove off to get Merle and everyone continued on with what they were doing. Everyone was a little worried.

Later, Carol, Amy, Andrea, and Jacqui were washing more laundry down at the quarry. Carol listened as the women talked about having to do the laundry. Then conversation turned to the things they missed. When Andrea mentioned her vibrator Carol had to try not to laugh, but she did smile. She couldn't help but join in.

"Me to" Carol said and everyone burst into laughter. Unfortunately Ed was nearby and came down to see what they were laughing about. Carol tensed a bit as he neared and when Andrea called him out on it Carol held her breath.

"Problem Ed?" Andrea asked him.

"None that concerns you" he responded. "you outta focus on your work. This ain't no comedy club"

Carol knew not to say anything and wished Andrea wouldn't either. If they didn't say anything then he would go away. She already knew she would probably get in trouble for socializing with the women again. She was dreading later. It was another few minutes of awkward silence before Andrea spoke up again saying that if Ed didn't like how his laundry was done then he could do it himself. Carol wished she would just stop, it wasn't helping anything.

"Ain't my job missy" Ed told her.

"What is your job Ed? Sitting on your ass and smoking cigarettes?" Andrea asked him. Carol looked behind her cautiously and when Ed motioned for her to get up and go with him she quickly rose. Andrea tried to stop her and Carol shook her head slightly.

"Please" Carol said in a small voice.

"Are you gonna come now? Or regret it later?" he said to Carol after some choice words to Andrea. Jacqui brought up the fresh bruises and Carol cringed, realizing that she hadn't hidden them as well as she thought. Everyone apparently knew. Ed just laughed and told her to stay out of it as he motioned for Carol to come again, his voice getting more impatient. He grabbed Carol by the arm and Andrea also grabbed her, trying to pull her back. The women told her she didn't have to go and at the resistence Ed's hand shot out and slapped Carol across the face. Carol's hand immediately moved to cover her face as Amy pulled her back. The women began yelling at Ed and everyone was a bit shocked as Shane appeared and dragged Ed away. He began pummeling on him with punch after punch right to the face and Carol let out small cries as she watched. They began to call for Shane to stop s he continued punching Ed and when Shane did he grabbed Ed's face in his and warned him from ever touching Carol, Sophia or anyone again. Ed weakly agreed and with one final punch Shane got up. Carol quickly moved to Ed, apologizing repeatedly. She couldn't stop crying and couldn't figure out why. He hit her, abused her, but still she cried for him. Maybe it was because she feared he would do this to her too, even with Shane's threats. Or maybe just because someone had finally done something about him. She didn't know but still she apologized. She didn't know what else to do.

TWDTWDTWD DARYL TWDTWDTWDTWD

They left the van parked a ways out of the city and decided to walk the rest of the way. They decided whether to go to Merle first or the guns. As if they needed to decide.

"Obviously Merle" Daryl told the sternly. There was no way he was leaving his brother to go after a few guns. His brother came first. Glenn was the one to agree that Merle was closer and Daryl once again wanted to hit something. So what, if the guns had been closer they would have been first? Sure he understood the logic in that but Merle was his brother, a human being. They should always come first over some stupid guns. The guns just caused problems anyway.

The group continued on in a hurried fashion. When they arrived at the building they were glad to see it wasn't over flowing with walkers out front like it had apparently been the last time they were there. Daryl didn't much care and rushed into the building. He looked around as the other joined him T-dog began leading the way to the stairwell to the roof. A walker came out and Daryl made quick of her with an arrow to the head. He pulled it out and kept going.

When they reached the door to the roof, they brought out the bolt cutters and the chain fell at their feet. Daryl pushed through the door and moved quickly over to where he could see legs sticking out.

"Merle" Daryl called to his brother as he got closer. The head resting on the pipe jerked upwards and turned.

"Bout damn time ya got her baby brother. Ain't got some water on your ass do ya?" Merle's voice came through loud and clear. Daryl grinned and moved closer to his brother. Merle looked a little worse for wear. He was coated in a day old sweat and was a bit pale. When he spoke his voice was scratchy. He was obviously dehydrated from not having any water for almost 24 hours.

The others brought the bolt cutters over to him and it was easy to see the anger on Merle's face as T-dog came in to view. Merle didn't say anything but by the looks of him a confrontation would happen.

"Hand me them bolt cutters" Daryl demanded. Rick held out a hand and crouched down to speak to Merle.

"Why hello there officer friendly. Weird seeing your ass back here" Merle told him with a sarcastic laugh.

"Now Merle" Rick started. "We're going to cut the cuffs. You're not going to touch T-dog, or hurt him in anyway you understand? We're going to get you out of here and grab some guns and head back to camp" he finished. Merle glared at him but nodded.

"Just get thee damn cuff off'a me" he said as he pulled up his cuffed hand. His wrist was cut from the cuffs and dried blood coated the cuffs and his skin.

"Couldn't reach that damn saw. Was gonna cut my own arm off. Was lucky them geeks didn't get up here" Merle grumbled as they set to work on the cuffs.

"Wasn't luck. I wrapped a chain around the door so they couldn't get through" T-dog told him.

"Mighty kind of ya considerin ya dropped the god damn key" Merle said heatedly. T-dog said nothing as the cuffs were cut and Merl's hand was freed. He stood up on shaky feet and no one bothered to steady him. Daryl grinned at his brother and Merle glared at him.

"Whatcha lookin at there lil brother. Like ta see your ass up here with nothing for a day" Merle told him.

"Can we get outta here now?" he asked before moving without an answer. Rick shook his head as T-dog bent to grab the tools that were left before. They moved down again to the lower level and Rick went over the plans of getting the guns. Glenn cut in with an idea of his own and they decided that was the best to follow. They quickly got to work getting into position, Merle grumbling the whole time. The countdown began and the Glenn was off to get the bag of guns. None expecting that others were trying to get the same thing.

TWDTWDTWDTWD CAROL TWDTWDTWDTWDTWD

It was later in the day and Carol was sitting on a log and sewing together a few clothes. Ed had gone off to their tent and stayed there after the fight with Shane. Andrea and Amy had gone fishing again and were just now coming back, loaded down with fish. Everyone smiled. The happiness was short lived as Dale came up to the group.

"I don't want to alarm anyone but we may have a problem" He told them as he looked up on a ridge where everyone could see Jim digging something with a shovel. Shane was the first to head up to talk with him and everyone else followed behind. Jim was coated in sweat and he continually put the shovel to the ground again and again. Carol had a hold of Sophia as they watched. Shane asked him what he was doing and Jim still didn't stop his digging. Shane told him he wanted to talk to him and the conversation went on from there.

"I'm not hurting anyone" Jim told them a few moments later.

"Nobody but yourself" Dale went on.

"Jim I'm going to come right out and say it. You're scaring people. You're scaring my son and Carol's daughter" Lori told him.

"They got nothing to be scared of, I mean what the hell people I'm out here by myself so just go and leave me the hell alone" Jim said. Shane told him he needed to take a break and Carol couldn't help but agree to herself. Jim just resumed digging. When Shane told him to give him the shovel Jim stopped again.

"Or what?" he asked.

"There is no what" was Shane's response.

"If I don't then what. Then ya going to beat my face in like Ed Peletier. Ya'll seen his face, whats left of it" Jim said. "See that's what happens when someone crosses you"

"That was different Jim" Shane told him.

"You weren't there, Ed was out of control he was hurting his wife" Amy piped in.

"That is their marriage! That is not his" Jim spoke out. Carol wrapped her arms around Sophia and pulled her close as she listened to what was being said. As the talk continued Carol couldn't help but think back to earlier. Now that she was calmer she could see what happened through clear eyes. Shane had defended her and for that she was glad. No one had ever done that, not even herself much to her own shame. Ed hadn't spoken more that three words to her since and had stayed to himself. She was glad for it but at the same time she was still fearful of what would happen later. When Ed healed, she wondered if he would still heed Shane's warning.

Carol's attention was caught again as Shane and Jim fell to the ground. She heard Jim speak about his family and she felt sadness wash over her. Then Shane hoisted Jim up and everyone went back down to the camp.

TWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWD

It was dark and everyone was gathered around the fires again eating their dinner of fish. Everyone was silent as Ed had come out to join them and the group that went to Atlanta wasn't back yet. Tension was broken however when Morale's mentioned Dale's watch. Dale told them how time was important and then told all of them a story. After the story Amy rose and Andrea asked where she was going.

"To the bathroom geez. No privacy around here" Amy said as she walked toward the RV. Everyone laughed. A few minutes later Amy came back out of the RV and stood in it's doorway.

"We're out of toilet paper" she said. Not a moment later a walker went up to her and before Amy realized it the walker bit down on her arm. She screamed and the camp looked at her before disrupting into chaos. Everyone went in different directions, screaming and Shane fired off shots as more walkers came out of the woods. Hollers and screams blocked out most sounds and walkers were biting down on people left right and center. Everyone that could grabbed any weapon they could find and started on the walkers as they made their way to the RV.

Carol tried to grab ahold of Sophia but Ed beat her to it. He grabbed Sophia around the wrist and dragged her in front of him as he continued shuffling backwards. Sophia started screaming and crying, reaching out a hand for Carol. Carol couldn't believe it, her face contorted into horror as she saw a walker come toward Ed and Sophia. Carol found her voice and moved quickly at Ed.

"Ed let Sophia go!" She screamed as she beat her fists against him. No one else was near them as they had gone in the direction of the RV. So there wasn't a chance for help. It was up to her. Carol hit Ed again and again while screaming for him to let Sophia go. She didn't care what she yelled, or what the consequences were. That was her daughter and nothing would stop her. That is until Ed shoved his elbow back hard and clocked Carol in the nose. She yelped in pain as she grabbed at it, feeling the now slight crooked angle. She could feel the blood that began to drip from it and lost her footing before tumbling to the ground. Sobs and screams came from her throat and she again rose to try and get her daughter away from Ed but she didn't see the other walker closing in behind her. All she could hear, was Sophia's cries for her mother.

**Don't hate me -puts up hands in defense- I thought it would be an interesting place to end it aha. So things have escalated. I hate Ed even more than when I watched season 1. Um yeah so let me know what you think. Healthy criticism is always welcome c: see you next chapter!**


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